Minister/Geologist/Husband/Dad
Pastor Larry Powell (PL) grew up in a family of seven in the village of Oxford, Michigan. His father and grandfather were carpenters and Larry spent many summers building houses. Though he left Michigan when he joined the Army immediately following high school, he still loves to root for the University of Michigan. His biggest challenge in ministry is loving the Ohio State Buckeye fans in his congregation.
After returning from his assignment in Germany, PL attended Olivet Nazarene University. He planned to be a physical science teacher. These plans changed when he felt called into ministry his junior year. He graduated with a B.S. in Geology with plans to attend seminary after graduation. His plans changed when he and his wife Kerry were appointed to a small church in rural Illinois in 1990—two weeks after they were married. Four years later they did make it to Kansas City where Larry graduated from Nazarene Theological Seminary. Their first church after seminary (1998), was the Oxford Church of the Nazarene. Although Midwesterners at heart, most of their ministry has been in the Southeastern, Pennsylvania—an area of the country they love.
Pastor Larry met his beautiful wife, Kerry, on the first day of classes his freshman year. He told his buddy that summer that he found the girl he wanted to marry. It took him several semesters to convince her, but Larry married Kerry in November of 1990—they have been married and in ministry ever since. They have three grown children who are brilliant like their dad and gorgeous like their mom.
PL tells people that he is in the ministry because God so radically changed his life that he wanted to spend the rest of it telling people that God is not only real, but that he can change their lives for the good in ways that are unimaginable. He shares God’s word in ways that are easy to understand and loves to tell a funny story when he can.
One of PL’s many favorite verses:
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
At his leisure, Pastor Larry can often be found taking relaxing drives around the tri-state area with Kerry, picking up a piping hot coffee along the way. He also enjoys golfing, hiking, trips to Chick-fil-a, yardwork, home improvement projects, and most recently… letting the wind blow through his hair when he takes late night rides on his motorcycle. Well, not really “blowing through his hair” because he does wear a helmet. Plus, he doesn’t really have much hair.
